What you need to know
- The first rumors about the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 surfaced much earlier than expected.
- Samsung is reportedly planning to ship the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 successors in fewer volumes than this year's foldables.
- The Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 are expected to make their debut later in 2023.
While Samsung is still gearing up to announce the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4, the phones' successors have already made rounds in the rumor mill. A new report claims that Samsung may release fewer foldable phones in 2023.
According to The Elec, Samsung's sales strategy for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 may be a bit conservative. Citing unnamed industry sources, the outlet reports that Samsung may target a shipment of 2 million units for the Z Fold 5 and 8 million units for the clamshell foldable model.
If the numbers hold true, this means that Samsung's contender for the best foldable phones in 2023 will be produced in fewer volumes than this year and last year. This is supposedly due to high raw material costs, the Russia-Ukraine war, and economic woes. An earlier report from Nikkei Asia suggested that Samsung had slashed or delayed its procurement orders from suppliers. The orders were said to be for chips, electronics parts, and product packages.
South Korea's business newspaper Maeil Business News also reported previously that Samsung had significantly reduced its smartphone production target for this year. That said, the report suggests that Samsung is betting big on its next foldables that are expected to make their debut in August. According to the report, the target shipment for the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 is 15 million units.
The rumored strategy for the Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 looks a bit unusual for a smartphone maker that traditionally increases the shipments of newer models compared to their predecessors. But it's too early for Samsung to set its future plans in stone.
Meanwhile, the report provided an early leak about the specs of the foldable phones, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. The Z Fold 5, in particular, will purportedly come with a triple rear camera setup featuring a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL GN3 sensor.
